


Murphy's Law

by Sommersets



Category: South Park
Genre: Alternate Universe - Office, In which an office prank goes horribly wrong and Craig needs to face the music, M/M, Office AU, Office Romance, Romantic Comedy, cryle - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2019-05-17
Packaged: 2020-03-05 18:09:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18833977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sommersets/pseuds/Sommersets
Summary: Craig learns that everything that could go wrong, will go wrong when you are crushing on your cute red-haired boss.Written for Cryle week.





	Murphy's Law

**Author's Note:**

> Murphy’s law is defined as “If something can go wrong, it will. And, usually at the worst time. “  
> This fic’s concept came from a composite of events that happened when I was an intern (albeit with some exaggerations). I made a chillhop / jazz playlist that goes along with this story [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m5-JmHs5yU&list=PL6kIyr5j7ZZtx3PqH7ciWIq96Rq6CSUDN&index=1) , please feel free to listen as you read along.

He knew he should have taken the e-mail seriously when it was first sent out. His first mistake was forwarding it to his coworker, Clyde with some additional commentary. Who knew that Clyde had the intention to forward it directly to Kenny in HR, who had immediately locked it in as the choice venue to celebrate the end of ‘busy season’. And that cursed cycle of events was how their office party came to be held at a 'that' restaurant and how eventually, a new set of rules got added to the employee handbook.

 

Clyde, the one who got him into this mess in the first place, had slapped his back and promised that it would a great place for the happy hour and that "the situation couldn't possibly go tits up, because" - he pointed at the restaurant logo, "It already happened." The brunet broke out in laughter at his own joke. And, Craig thought privately to himself that if Clyde didn't change the location, he would ensure that it would be the last joke that he'd ever tell.

 

Despite his qualms, the day of the party came and no changes were made to the reservation. Craig hesitantly pulled up to Twin Peaks with a heavy sense of foreboding.

 

From the outside, the restaurant was designed to look like a mountain lodge, the shop sign was adorned with two snow-covered mountain peaks, and their tagline advertised 'Eats, Drinks, Scenic views'.  Except, as innocent as they appeared, those scenic views and twin peaks were euphemisms for a  _certain_ something.

 

Craig could only watch in silence as his unsuspecting boss walked up to the podium to deliver his speech. 

 

"We survived another busy season!" The redhead enthusiastically addressed the company.  "This year, we exceeded our revenue targets and picked up six new clients. The bar tab is open in my name so please feel free to pick up some drinks."

 

It was then that it happened, the servers trailed in to serve drinks in scandalous outfits that showed off all their bouncing assets. The waitresses strolled around the tables, wearing plaid shirts tied around their midriff and daisy dukes that left little to the imagination. The dark-haired man could only watch as the expression on his poor boss's face begin to shift into one of clear mortification as he recognized it for the kind of restaurant it was. Kyle set down his presentation notes and gulped, clearly uncomfortable. The crowd below went quiet as they looked to their overwhelmed young CFO for guidance on how to react.

 

"Ahem." Kyle cleared his throat, finding his voice again after a moment. "As I was saying, we had a strong performance this year and exceeded the budgeted earnings. I want to thank you all for your hard work and contributions." Somehow, Kyle found the courage to continue and wrap up the speech. When he was done, he was met with standing ovations and supportive hollers from the back.

 

"See? Told you it'd all work out." Clyde was already downing his second shot and digging his fork into his entrée.

 

"Work out how? We embarrassed him." He gazed towards the lone figure sitting down at the bar, currently showing zero interest towards the refreshments or the scantily clad girls trying to flirt with him. He felt a little sorry for Kyle.

 

"He's not enjoying himself at all."

 

"Oh. Hm, can't imagine why not. This place is great" Clyde remarked as he observed Kyle's morose figure slumped against the bar while casually popping an olive into his mouth.

 

Actually, Craig knew exactly why because he had found the redhead's profile on Grindr earlier in the year. From the flame red curls that kissed his delicate nape, his lithe frame, the cleanly pressed dress shirt and that particular blue tie he'd worn to the office on so many different occasions, he knew it was Kyle the instant he saw the profile on the dating app. He was listed as 27 years old and single. Kyle was gay, no doubt about it, Craig had confirmed after a few DMs and chats in the app. This whole situation must be both humiliating from a personal and professional standpoint as well as deeply uncomfortable for him.

 

He grabbed a drink in his hand and headed over to the bar.  "Hey." Craig pulled up a seat and sat down next to Kyle.

 

"Good work up there."  

 

Green eyes stared at him warily.

 

“It was horrible. I forgot most of my lines and had to improvise.”

 

“I thought it was pretty good. I couldn’t tell. “ Craig hoped that his words offered some level of comfort for the redhead.

 

“Ugh.” Kyle placed his head down in his hands in exasperation. “I’m going to kill Kenny when I get back. He knew and he didn’t tell me. ” Craig bit his lip before he gave himself away. In reality, he and Clyde also shared some of the blame, but he didn’t want to lose his job right now.

 

“This is so unprofessional. “ The distraught red-head waved his hands around, pointing around the establishment.

 

“Hey, look. Everyone’s enjoying the food and, “ Craig paused, choosing his next set of words carefully to describe the ample supply of exposed cleavage,  “Ample scenic views.”

 

"It’s great."

 

Kyle sighed but still managed a small smile.

 

“You should relax. It could be worse. At least the food and drinks here don’t suck.”

 

“You’re right,” Kyle replied. “I should get a refill.”

 

“Might as well drink ‘till I forget about everything.”  He slouched forwards in his chair, towards the bottle of Merlot on the counter.

 

“Here, Let me get it for you.” Craig rushed to pour the bottle of wine but for whatever reason, his nerves caused the bottle to slip out of his hands- and directly into Kyle’s lap.

 

Now it was Craig turn to be mortified as a dark red stain seeped into Kyle’s pants, blooming like a red rose against the canvas of the light grey cloth. He apologized profusely, but  Kyle stopped him in his tracks with a dismissive wave.

 

“It’s fine. I’m going to the bathroom to clean up.” The redhead rose out of the chair and headed down the hallway. Craig awkwardly followed along after him.

 

When they got to the washroom, Craig grabbed a bunch of paper towels and tried to clean him up.”S-stop it.”  Kyle yelped, shoved his hands away and proceeded to blush profusely. “I can do it myself.” He grabbed the paper towels and furiously dabbed at the spill.

 

Craig blinked. The wine stain was really close to Kyle’s inner thigh and… oh.  _Fuck._ That happened.

 

He wondered what else could possibly go wrong.

 

The next day at the office, Kyle had acted cordially around him, and Craig breathed a sigh of relief that the situation wasn’t entirely awkward. It’s not like he had the intentions of groping his boss...down there when he reached forth to clean up the red wine stain. He also, fervently prayed that Kyle wouldn’t figure out that he was the one chatting him up on Grindr and the instigator of the Twin Peaks fiasco too. Thankfully, the day went by without a hitch until it was time to go home. At five minutes to five, His messenger was pinged, and the dreaded summons “ _Come see me in my office_ ” danced across the screen. Craig could only wonder about what horrible fate would befall him when he stepped into Kyle’s office.

 

Kyle crossed his arms in the armchair, facing him impassively as he motioned for Craig to sit down.

“Kenny told me everything.”

Craig sucked in a sharp breath. He should have spent the day packing up his things- trust McCormick to not throw him under the bus.

“Did you think it was funny?” Yeah, in retrospect, he did a little bit, but he wasn’t dense enough to betray that sentiment here. Craig shook his head firmly, “No.”

The redhead gazed at his profile through iridescent green eyes, observing silently.  

“If that’s your idea of a good restaurant, you’re gonna have to do better.”

“Next time.” Kyle’s stoic expression melted into one that was soft as he laughed- not bothering to keep up the facade any longer. “Make it up to me the next time you take me out to dinner.”

Craig slowly nodded as he processed what was happening. Take him out? So he wasn’t in trouble with HR or going to be fired?

“Dumbass, I knew it was you messaging me on the app.”

Craig was speechless as the smaller man approached him, at the hand that pressed on his lap and at the warm kiss that enveloped him. He leaned forward into the delicate kiss and returned it with a force to be reckoned with.  He couldn't believe this turn of events, because everything that led up to this point went so wrong but somehow... Kyle wasn't mad.

“Fuck.” When they broke away for air, Kyle’s shallow breaths tickled the base of his neck and sent electric shivers down his spine.

“Close the shutters and lock the door.” His boss demanded and he did just that.

Slim fingers undid his shirt with ease.

If he knew that this was the outcome, he would have come clean sooner.


End file.
